Appellate judge upholds Mundelein man's 2014 murder conviction

An appellate judge Wednesday upheld the 2014 conviction of a Mundelein man jurors agreed intentionally caused a crash that killed a Round Lake Beach mother of three in 2012.

Mark Oelerich, 26, was sentenced in 2014 by Judge James Booras to 14 years in prison for first-degree murder and aggravated driving under the influence of drugs for intentionally swerving into a car driven by Araceli Villasenor, 24, on Cedar Lake Road in Round Lake the day before Thanksgiving.

Oelerich tried to reduce his murder conviction to reckless homicide; however a judge's order Wednesday maintained Oelerich knew he was driving dangerously, despite the schizophrenic delusions he said clouded his judgment.

At the time of the trial, Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon and Michael Ori said Oelerich was high on synthetic cannabis and a psychedelic drug, which caused his erratic behavior that night.

After the crash, Oelerich told authorities he intentionally swerved into the oncoming vehicle at speeds nearing twice the 35 mph speed limit because he believed himself immortal. Although Oelerich insisted he was suffering from mental health issues at the time, Appellate Judge Ann B. Jorgensen said schizophrenia would not cause Oelerich to lose all contact with reality.

"Ordinarily, it is a perfectly reasonable inference that a driver who proceeds at twice the posted speed limit, crosses the median into oncoming traffic, and swerves sharply into the front of a vehicle going the other way, hitting it head-on, knows that he is creating a strong probability of killing or severely harming another person," Jorgenson wrote in the order.

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